Despite the big push for STEM majors and career-focused skills in recent years, the liberal arts seem to be making a resurgence.

Liberal arts degree programs in 2016 ranked No. 1 for most completions as well as for the biggest increase in completions, higher ed consulting firm Gray Associates found in a recent analysis of IPEDS preliminary data.

Conducting meaningful conversations with stakeholders is vital to inform and validate the strategic direction of any institution. However, many traditional methods of gathering this input—such as surveys or town hall meetings—are flawed and can be misleading, often being disproportionately influenced by the loudest or most negative voices.

The costs of higher education continue to challenge students, while the pressure to reduce administrative overhead and improve efficiency is constant for institutions and their executive leaders. Taking the right approach to student payment plans is one way to address both of these concerns.

Thousands of students, faculty, staff and alumni visit the Student Union at Oklahoma State University each day and take advantage of a large number of available retail services. For Mitch Kilcrease, who is assistant vice president and director of the Student Union, something was missing: a printing and parcel shop.

“I felt there was potential on campus to grow a print-service model from a retail base,” Kilcrease says. “A lot of people were already going off-campus to FedEx Office and using its services.”

Describe how higher education HR is run today and how it should be run in the future.

Brad Saffer: It is very fragmented. There is a unique range of employees in higher education. Within some of these groups—tenured faculty, adjunct staff, administrators and office staff—are both union and nonunion employees. The hiring and onboarding processes are built and run by individual departments. It has created a whole set of inefficiencies.